Archive by Author

This Summer Skills Seminar introduces participants to Islamic law. The seminar is focused on developing the skill of reading Islamic legal texts as opposed to surveying Islamic legal doctrines. It is designed for beginners seeking to build their capacity to investigate Islamic law.

Professor Ali will lead participants in a methodical reading of an introduction to Islamic law. Participants will read the chapters on legal obligation (taklīf) and ritual purity (ṭahāra) in Durūs tamhīdiyya fī l-fiqh al-istidlālī by Muḥammad Bāqir al-Īrawānī (b. 1949). In addition to the text itself, the course will cover selected topics in jurisprudence (uṣūl al-fiqh) and bio-bibliography (rijāl). Topics covered include: the meanings of ʿaql; the principle qubḥ al-taklīf bi-mā lā yuṭāq; repairing weak chains of transmission; exceptions to general rules and the principle of istiṣḥāb; al-shubuhāt al-miṣdāqiyya; al-tawthīqāt al-ʿāmma; tasālum versus ijmāʿ; al-qāʿida al-mirzāʾiyya; and al-sīra al-ʿuqalāʾiyya.

Participants are required to have intermediate Arabic,* but they are not required to have a background in Islamic law. The seminar will be held via Zoom over 4 days, with two 2-hour sessions each day. At the end of the seminar, participants will have gained some of the basic tools needed to read Islamic legal texts independently.

The deadline to register is April 15.

Full information at:
https://www.mediterraneanseminar.org/overview-islamic-legal-texts-2024

The Book of Unveiling: Early Fatimid Ismaili Doctrine in the Kitab al-Kashf,
attributed to Ja’far b. Mansur al-Yaman

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/book-of-unveiling-9780755653867/

This text is one of the earliest (if not the earliest) Ismaili sources to have reached the present day. The book consists of the first full translation of the text to a European language (English), and is accompanied with a general presentation and detailed commentary.

Also available OpenAccess here: https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/88170<

1.Conference “Muslims in Britain, 1800‒1970, and Beyond: Historical Approaches & Why”,

Muslims in Britain Research Network (MBRN), University of Westminster, 17-18 June 2024

Topics: • Intersectionality in historical Muslim identity in Britain • Post- and de-colonial approaches within

history • Contemporary impact of historical British Muslims • Experiences of racism in early British Muslims •

Histories of Muslim Institutions • Contestations in ‘British Muslim’ identity • Socio-political activism to date •

Significant ‘British Muslim’ public figures • Recent publications on the history of Islam and Muslims in Britain.

Deadline for abstracts: 11 May 2024. Information: https://www.everydaymuslim.org/events/conference-muslims-in-britain-1800%E2%80%921970-and-beyond-historical-approaches-why/

 

 

 

 

2. Panels for the Session 13 “Politics, Religion and Conflicts” at the Conference of the Società Italiana di Scienza Politica (SISP), Triest, 12-14 September 2024

Topics: Public role of religions – Use of religious symbols/discourses in politics – Religion, politics and marketing – Religion and populism – Religion and (social) media – Religion and gender – Religious pluralism – Religion, rights and freedoms – Religion and education – Transnational religious movements – Religion and international politics – Religious mobilization and authority between war and peace – Religious extremism, radicalization and de-radicalization.

Deadline for panels: 5 April 2024. Information:  https://www.sisp.it/en/conference2024/sezioni_upd

 

 

 

 

3. Annual Conference of the DGFG-Working Group Geographies of Religion: “Religion and Space in the Digital Age”, University of Jena, 21-22 November 2024

Topics: Changing relationships between space, society, religion, and digitality. – Case studies on various forms of religious socialization. – Digitalization, digital media, digital religion, e-religiosity, and the media turn in the context of religious studies and religious geography research. – Societal contexts of digitalization movements in the religious field. – Specific forms of digitality. – Places of religion in the digital realm. – Etc.

Deadline for abstracts: 31 May 2024.

Information: https://vgdh.de/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/AKReligionsgeographie-2024-Jena-Call-eng.pdf

 

 

 

 

4. “2024 Suad Joseph Student Paper Award” of the “Association of Middle East Anthropology (AMEA)”

Eligibility: A graduate student at any stage in an MA or PhD program. Paper components: 15-35 pages long.

– Anthropological focus.- Regional focus on the Middle East and/or North Africa and/or diasporic communities. – Excellent standards of writing, argumentation, evidence, and ethnographic representation. – Significant contribution to knowledge production.

Deadline for paper: 1 September 2024.

Information: https://mideastanthro.com/suad-joseph-student-paper-award-2/

 

 

 

 

5. Articles for Journal “Forum Islamic-Theological Studies”

Papers in English and German are invited in the following areas:- Qur’anic Studies and Qur’anic Exegesis (tafsīr) – Hadith Studies – Sufism – Islamic Legal Theory and Hermeneutics (fiqh) – Islamic Ethics – Islamic Philosophy – Systematic-Discursive Theology (kalām) – Islamic Religious Education – Sociology of Religion on Muslims in Europe or the West – Contributions on current discourses on Islam and Muslims in Europe – Islam and Pluralism, Islam in Europe – etc.

Deadline for abstracts: 1 October 2024. Information: https://ojs.nomos-journals.de/index.php/fits/CfP

 

 

 

6. CFP: The map as the “eye of history” (16th-18th centuries)

The map as the “eye of history” (16th-18th centuries)

The idea of geography being the “eye of history” is a common expression in the early modern period, but it is articulated in a specific way if we take the cartographic object as the point of observation. The aim of this study day is to reinvestigate the relationship between maps and history in the chronological span from the 16th to the 18th century, in Europe and its imperial extensions, from three angles: the analysis of the place of maps in the teaching and reading of history, an investigation into history on and through maps, and a reflection on the porosity between the producers of historical and cartographic knowledge.

Terms and conditions of submission

Proposals in English or French, no more than 300 words long and accompanied by a brief curriculum vitae, should be sent to oeildelhistoire2024@gmail.com by May 15, 2024.

Organisational arrangements
With the support of the Centre Alexandre-Koyré (CAK) and the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), the study day will take place on Tuesday 8 October 2024 in the conference room of the Maps and Plans Department of the BnF on the Richelieu site (Paris).
The organisers will cover meals, travel expenses and, where possible, overnight accommodation. The study day will take place exclusively on site.

Organisers 
Oury Goldman, doctor from EHESS and associate researcher at TEMOS
Lucile Haguet, doctor and curator at Le Havre municipal library
Catherine Hofmann, Curator, Maps and Plans Department, BnF (French National Library)
Geoffrey Phelippot, doctor from EHESS and member of CAK

 

 

 

7. AKU-ISMC: 13 Dec 2023 Virtual Open Day

Join AKU-ISMC students, staff and academics online for a Virtual Open Day on Wednesday 17 April 2024 3 December at 12:00 -13:00 (London Time) to learn about our MA in Muslim Cultures, find out about admissions, quiz current students on academic life, and have the opportunity to ask your own questions.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/aku-ismc-virtual-open-day-tickets-863008119517?aff=oddtdtcreator

The Aga Khan University Institute’s for the Study of Muslim Civilisations

Handyside Street
London, | N1C 4DN United Kingdom

 

 

 

8. Middle Eastern SciFi Translation Contest

The Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin is holding a Middle Eastern Science Fiction translation contest open to all translators of languages from the MENA region.

The winner will receive $1000 and the winning translation will be published in the fall issue of Y’alla: A Texan Journal of Middle Eastern Literature.

The deadline is July 1^st, 2024.

More at:

https://sites.utexas.edu/yalla/?page_id=32

 

 

 

 

9. Persian Composer Ahmad Pejman Honored at UCLA (Video)

https://youtu.be/uTucT8V5Clg

1. Approaching Architecture in the Muslim World: Novel Paths of Investigationsquestions the historiography of the field of ‘Islamic Architecture’ by scoring particular instances that fractured its foundations or methods that shaped its objects of study. Collectively, the contributions in this issue address the topic from theoretical concerns as well specific case studies andaddress three moments of rupture in the architecture of the Muslim world: ‘visuality’, ‘typology’, ‘displacement’. The aim of this issue, then, is to open new horizons for rethinking ‘Islamic’ architecture and suggest novel interrogative paths in order to challenge the canonical frameworks, which have dominated our approaches in discussing architecture in the lands of Islam, namely ‘typology’, ‘regionalism,’ ‘master narratives,’ and ‘patronage’.

See: https://brill.com/view/journals/mcmw/4/2/article-p279_8.xml

 

 

 

 

2. The Berlin-based Forum Transregionale Studien invites researchers to apply for up to 4 postdoctoral fellowships for the academic year 2024/2025 for the research program EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE EAST—THE MIDDLE EAST IN EUROPE (EUME).

Location: Berlin / Closing Date: 8 April 2024, 12.00h (noon) CEST

Call for Applications (PDF)

FAQ (PDF)

Also see:

The Berlin-based Forum Transregionale Studien invites researchers to apply for up to 4 postdoctoral fellowships for the academic year 2024/2025 for the research program EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE EAST—THE MIDDLE EAST IN EUROPE (EUME).

Location: Berlin / Closing Date: 8 April 2024, 12.00h (noon) CEST

Call for Applications (PDF)

FAQ (PDF)

Also see:

https://application.trafo-berlin.de/procedure/758011e1-f349-4f6a-bf79-ae9d9dee2e69

 

 

 

 

3. Mosque: Approaches to Art and Architecture,

Idries Trevathan, ed..

Routledge, 2024

https://www.routledge.com/Mosque-Approaches-to-Art-and-Architecture/Trevathan/p/book/9781032510750#:~:text=Description,rugs%20and%20Qur%27an%20stands.

 

 

 

4. The Sharafnāma as a Case Study in the Ecolinguistics of Kurdistan

Wednesday, March 20^th, at 2 p.m. Eastern the third event in our Spring Speaker Series.  (Note: Please check the time difference as daylight savings time started once again in the US.)

The event will take place on Zoom. It will be free and open to the public.

During this event, Sacha Alsancakli will present, “The Sharafnāma as a Case Study in the Ecolinguistics of Kurdistan.” Sacha is a cultural historian of the Islamic world, whose work focuses on historiography and the history of the book. His presentation will delve into the Sharafnāma, which is regarded as an important text on Kurdish history. He will examine its author’s discourse on the Kurdish language and the ecolinguistics of the multilingual land of Kurdistan.

Speaker Series: The Sharafnāma as a Case Study in the Ecolinguistics of Kurdistan

When: 2:00 pm Eastern, Wednesday, March 20th

Where: https://zoom.us/j/92784270041?pwd=MFhBUmtkMVR1OGN0V2JtQTZycGwwQT09

For more information on Zahra Institute and our upcoming events, visit our website: https://www.zahrainstitute.org/.

 

 

 

5. The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program offers over 400  unique awards for U.S. citizens to teach, research, and conduct professional projects in more than 130 countries. Explore awards available in the 2025-26 competition.You can join the more than 400,000 Fulbrighters who have come away with enhanced skills, new connections and greater mutual understanding.

We encourage you to visit our website for application resources:
– Getting Started
– Application Guidance
– Open Awards in the 2025-26 Competition, searchable by discipline, country/region, etc.
– Webinar Schedule and Archive
– Office Hours, a great way to get your questions answered live by Fulbright staff

We look forward to receiving your application by our deadline of September 16, 2024.  To receive program updates and application resources, connect with Fulbright.

 

 

 

 

6. CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

‘Securitizing the Sacred: Pilgrims’ Trails across Digital Landscapes’

(University of Toronto, August 22-24th, 2024)

We invite abstracts for a three-day International Symposium on the state of pilgrimage (incorporating religious tourism) in the context of global security. The event will bring together specialists in different areas of pilgrimage, including academics, tourism providers and operators, local authorities and infrastructure administrators, religious communities, civil liberties organizations, art specialists and artists, and social media influencers. Our aim is to enable different stakeholders to collaborate in considering issues of digitality, security, datafication and mobility that form increasingly significant dimensions of the underlying socio-technical infrastructures of religious journeying.

THE THEMES OF THE SYMPOSIUM

Over the past two decades, physical travel has increasingly been aided by digital technologies. Some of the questions that drive our inquiry include: Who is responsible for gathering data on pilgrims, and how is such data used? What policies exist regarding types of information and knowledge that can be gathered from pilgrims? What aspects of pilgrims’ data can be deemed sensitive and in need of protection? Are there cross-cultural differences in data collection and practices over how pilgrims’ data is used? What are the implications for pilgrims regarding conditions or situations that may render them ineligible for or excluded from pilgrimage, and who gets to decide?

Behind such empirical questions are powerful concerns relating to data justice that we wish to explore: How might we determine whether there is sufficient transparency about where data is stored and processed, and by whom? What criteria should we use to decide these questions over justice, identity, and mobility? We also invite papers on broader conceptual and theoretical questions concerning the intersections of pilgrimage, mobility, and security.

SUBMISSIONS

In addition to our keynote speakers, we also seek submissions in the following categories:

• Papers (includes completed research papers and research-in-progress papers)
• Posters (need not be in English)
• Sessions (one or two hours) for Interactive Engagement (including hands-on workshops developed around case studies, panels with a range of stakeholders, scenarios, etc.)
• Alternative formats (we have an exhibit space for photographs, films, material objects that speak to the theme, and artefacts exemplifying data trails, etc.)

We invite abstracts from scholars and practitioners working on different religious traditions and disciplinary perspectives. We also encourage community engagement projects, and practical applications of theory. We welcome submissions from outside of Canada.

Examples of topics include:

• Pilgrims’ online activities including information gathering prior to the journey, or using web-based booking systems
• The role of social media in maintaining contacts and networks during and after the pilgrimage
• Pilgrims as producers of data that may be circulated and accessed through digital trails
• Travelers’ risks of exposure to multiple forms of bio- and market-related surveillance and associated data mining
• Roles played by political and commercial organizations who are increasingly significant gatherers of information from and about pilgrims
• Examples of assemblages of systems including booking systems, apps, CCTV, biometrics, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), ID cards, and other monitoring mechanisms
• Security measures, security infrastructure in sacred places and in pilgrim destinations

Submissions will be accepted through April 20, 2024 by 11:59pm EST. All submissions will be refereed and must be in English (even if for a poster). They must include the author’s name and position; full affiliation including email and telephone; a brief bio; presentation title, up to five keywords, and an abstract of no more than 500 words for individual submissions and no more than 1000 words for panels/sessions. Email your submissions to: securitizingthesacred@gmail.com

TIMELINE

• April 20, 2024 (11:59pm EST): Proposal submission deadline (extended abstracts).
• May 15, 2024: Refereeing/peer-review completed; acceptance/rejection decisions.
• August 22-24, 2024: Securitizing the Sacred Symposium, Toronto (Canada).

ORGANIZERS AND SPONSORS

The symposium will be held at the University of Toronto. The local organizers are Dr. Nadia Caidi (nadia.caidi@utoronto.ca) and Dr. Simon Coleman (simon.coleman@utoronto.ca).

For inquiries, email us at securitizingthesacred@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

7. The School of Law and the Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World at the University of Edinburgh seek to appoint a Lecturer in Law in the Globalised Muslim World for a September 2024 start.

This three-year fixed term appointment is ideal for scholars seeking to develop their teaching and research profile. The Lecturer will contribute to the development of the Edinburgh Law School and the Alwaleed Centre’s research profiles as well as to their teaching and outreach activities. The Lecturer will undertake programme and course organisation as part of the Edinburgh Law School and Alwaleed Centre’s MSc and Honours programmes. The Lecturer will also take the lead in teaching and dissertation supervision, as well as contribute to other subject areas as appropriate. Ideally the expertise of the successful candidate will enable them to cover key aspects of Islamic/Sharia law and positive law in the contemporary Muslim world.

For further information including how to apply, click here: https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DGK877/lecturer-in-law-in-the-globalised-muslim-world.

The closing date for applications is 5 April 2024.

 

 

 

 

8. The Journal, Iranian Studies, invites proposals for roundtables. Topics in all areas of social sciences are welcome.

Iranian Studies inaugurated the roundtable initiative in issue 2 of 2023, with a roundtable on Writing capitalism in Iran. Since then, three more roundtables have been commissioned: in issue 3 of 2023, we hosted a roundtable on the Woman Life Freedom movement, in issue 2 of 2024 one on minoritized communities in Iran, and one on diaspora politics is forthcoming.

Roundtables typically include 5-7 short pieces, each consisting of approximately 3,000 words, to showcase new research in the field, re-assess well-established interpretative trends by bringing to light new evidences or introducing new approaches, and/or offer focused analyses on important issues in current affairs, whose impact may be long lasting. Our goal is to centre the journal of Iranian Studies in discussions and exchanges between social scientists, introducing new debates and ground-breaking analyses in our journal.

Topics include, but are not limited to, the sociology and history of modern Iran, the Persianate world and their diasporas; social aspects of the arts, religions and literature; Iran’s domestic and international politics, and politics of the Persianate world and their diasporas; transborder and transcultural contamination in the arts, culture, political thought and policies, between the Persianate regions and the world; history and politics of slavery, capitalism, racism, transnational solidarities, civilizational exchanges and contemporary political mobilizations.

Proposals should include a 500-700-word description of the topic and rationale for the roundtable, highlighting its contribution to existing scholarly debates. Proposals may include a list of contributions, each with a title, author, and a 300- word abstract. Roundtables should have one or more editors. Editors will be responsible for leading the publication process and making sure that every contribution conforms to the journal style and is ready for peer review. All roundtable contributions go through an expedited review process, which assesses the quality of each piece and makes a recommendation about its feasibility for publication.

Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis. They are competitively selected on the basis of their quality and innovation.

You can submit your proposal to Dr Paola Rivetti at paola.rivetti@dcu.ie by June, 17, 2024.

 

 

 

 

9. 3rd Annual Khamseen Graduate Student Presentation Award

Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online offers Topic and Term talks to support teaching, learning, and research in Islamic art, architecture, visual culture, and related fields. Since the website’s launch in Fall 2020, new contributions by scholars in the field have consistently grown our catalogue. In 2022, we successfully launched the first annual Khamseen Graduate Student Presentation Award; Sylvia Wu’s winning contribution on the Ashab Mosque in Quanzhou, South China, can be viewed here. The second iteration followed in 2023, when Namrata Kanchan won the award for her talk on figural obliteration within an early modern South Asian manuscript, available here.

While the PhD is a requirement for general submissions, Khamseen‘s Graduate Student Presentation Award enables advanced PhD students to feature their expertise and contribute to Khamseen.

For the 3rd Annual Khamseen Graduate Student Presentation Award, we invite PhD candidates (ABD) to submit a polished script of ca. 1,500 words and an accompanying PowerPoint slide show for a Topic presentation. The award recipient will work with our team to revise and then record their presentation, and they also will receive a $500 honorarium upon their presentation’s launch on the Khamseen website.

Submission Guidelines:

Applications due: April 15, 2024 

Notification of decisions: May 15, 2024

Eligibility: 

PhD candidates (ABD) and advanced PhD students in their third year or above (for doctoral programs without candidacy) enrolled in a degree-granting program in Islamic art and allied fields. We do not accept applications from undergraduate and Masters students.

Application Procedures:

Candidates should submit a polished script of ca. 1,500 words and an accompanying PowerPoint slide show for a Topic presentation. Additionally, applications should include a 3-5 sentence summary of the presentation, a 2-page CV, and a note of support from a PhD advisor or dissertation committee member.

Please submit materials to TeamKhamseen@umich.edu; notes of support by advisors and queries by candidates also should be sent to TeamKhamseen@umich.edu.

https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/khamseen/announcements/2024/3rd-annual-khamseen-graduate-student-presentation-award/

 

 

 

10. Islamic Studies PhD and MA scholarships, Exeter

The Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies is pleased to announce it MA and PhD scholarships for the academic years 2024. Please do distribute them widely.  These are dedicated funded scholarships for Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies students, and the details are as follows:

Al-Qasimi PhD Studentships can be viewed here.

IAIS Masters Excellence Awards

2x Home award here and 2x International here.

Shireen Abu Akleh MA Scholarship in Palestine Studies

1x Home OR International here.

Surprising little has been written about exegesis of Surat Yusuf, the Qurʾan’s “greatest of narration” (ahsan al-qasas), and certainly the longest and most substantial narrative in the Qurʾan. The little that has been written about Shiʿi interpretations of the Surat Yusuf has generally taken as its starting point Sunni exegesis, Jewish exegesis of the Hebrew Bible, or both. This paper describes two interpretations in hitherto unpublished sources of esoteric literature: the Ismaili missionary Jaʾfar b. Mansur al-Yaman’s (d. c. 960) Kitab al-fara’id wa-hudud al-din (The Book of [inheritance] Allotments and the Limits of Religion”), and the second, al-Risala al-Yusufiyya (The Joseph Epistle) by Abu al-Fath al-Baghdadi (thrived late fourth/tenth century).

Call for Papers: Mapping Methods and Theories in Shiʿi Studies, Open Panel at the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR) World Congress, Kraków 2025
Convenors: Mohammad Nabeel Jafri (University of Toronto), Candace Mixon (Reed College)
Abstract: The trajectory of scholarship on Shiʿism is marked by two overarching influences. First, as the early Orientalists pored over and translated myriad Arabic and Persian texts in the 19th and 20th centuries, they accepted the normative claims offered by their objects of study as fact, relegating Shiʿism outside the purview of Islam. Second, nascent attempts at a systematic study of Shiʿa traditions can be dated to the 1970’s, where much of the scholarship produced was inspired by the then current political and social contexts of Iran. Today, the dual legacies of focusing on Sunni texts and Shiʿi politics can often be arthritic, foreclosing potential and productive avenues of inquiry. Under the Congress subtheme of Mapping, we invite analyses of recent trends in the field that challenge simple binaries of Sunni/Shiʿa, Arabic/Persian, and texts/practices, opting to consider their crossways and varied intersections. We welcome papers whose archives include languages and geographies underrepresented in the field, and whose methods are sensitive to the interplay of texts, practices, and materials in Shiʿi devotion. We especially encourage papers to think through not just the limitations of the oeuvre of Orientalist textual-philological works, but also possible and potential benefits that such scholarship enables, particularly since many of the Shiʿa devotees inhabit worlds as logocentric as the ones portrayed by early European scholars.
Submission: As per the IAHR website (https://iahr2025.org/call-for-panels-papers/open-panels/), interested participants can apply directly to the conference, and choose the panel’s number (30) and title (Mapping Methods and Theories in Shiʿi Studies) in the submission system.
Deadline: The IAHR deadline for individual papers is Dec 1, 2024.
Evaluation of papers: The acceptance works at two levels. First, the IAHR congress committee accepts papers from within the submissions they’ve received. The accepted papers are then forwarded to the panel conveners who finalize the panel. Papers accepted by the IAHR committee but not by the panel conveners are still presentable at the IAHR meeting as individual papers.
For any questions, please feel free to email Mohammad Nabeel Jafri at nabeel.jafri@mail.utoronto.ca

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1.2 Postdoctoral Fellowships (2 years) for Scholars at Risk at the “Academy in Exile”, TU Dortmund University and Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, Essen, Germany

Eligible are scholars from any country who have a PhD in the humanities, social sciences, or law, and who are at risk because of their academic work and/or civic engagement in human rights, democracy, and the pursuit of academic freedom. Academy in Exile fellowships give scholars the opportunity to continue their careers in Germany and to work on a research project of their own choosing in a multidisciplinary environment.

Application deadline: 15 April 2024. Information:

https://www.academy-in-exile.eu/2024/03/01/call-for-applications-12-aie-fellowships-for-scholars-at-risk/

 

 

 

 

2. Postdoctoral Research Fellow (3-4 Years) for the Research Project “Beyond Restitution: Heritage, (Dis)Possession and the Politics of Knowledge (BEYONDREST)”, Europe in the Middle East (EUME), Berlin

Requirements: Completed dissertation in anthropology, (art) history, cultural studies, sociology, archaeology or a related field. – Established research focus on critical heritage studies, cultural policy, museum studies, politics of knowledge, material culture, and/or state violence. – Experience with ethnographic research and preferably also with archival research. – Regional expertise regarding the Near and Middle East and/or North

Africa.

Deadline for applications: 15 April 2024. Information: https://www.forum-transregionale-studien.de/en/news/news/details/job-postdoctoral-research-fellow-f-m-d-in-the-project-beyondrest

 

 

 

 

3. Visiting Assistant Professor (1 Year) for Comparative Politics (Focus Middle East), Department of Politics, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine

Applicants should show a strong commitment to excellence in undergraduate teaching. We strongly encourage applications from individuals with identities that have been historically marginalized in political science, and individuals who have followed non-traditional pathways to higher education due to societal, economic, or academic disadvantages.

Deadline for applications: 1 April 2024. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/142258

 

 

 

 

4. 2024 Graduate Student Paper Prize of the “Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies (JMEWS)”

The prize is awarded to a graduate student in any discipline in the humanities or interpretive social sciences to recognize an original work on an aspect of Middle East women’s, gender, and/or sexuality studies. The 2024 prize winner will receive a $500 award and comments to prepare the manuscript for publication as an article in JMEWS.

Deadline for submissions: 31 May 2024. Information:

https://amews.org/2024/02/29/2024-jmews-graduate-student-paper-prize-call-for-submissions/

 

 

 

 

5. Chapters for Edited Volume on “The Practice of Pilgrimage in a Global Early Modern Context”

We are seeking contributions to a volume exploring pilgrimage in a global context from the mid-fifteenth to the mid-eighteenth century. We are seeking contributors working from the perspective of diverse disciplines (e. art history, history, literature, anthropology), religious traditions (ie. Buddhism, Shintoism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity) and regional contexts.

Deadline for abstracts: 31 March 2024. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/group/announcements/20026219/cfp-new-volume-practice-pilgrimage-global-early-modern-context

 

 

 

 

6. Articles for “Hamsa: Journal of Judaic and Islamic Studies” (10th Issue)

Hamsa aims to create a multi-disciplinary space in the fields of Jewish and Islamic studies in which all perspectives of Social and Human sciences can converge. Articles are invited which foster a comparative analysis of historiographical, philosophical, anthropological and sociological discourses ranging from medie-vality to contemporaneity.

Deadline for papers: 31 March 2024. Information: https://journals.openedition.org/hamsa/4389

 

 

 

 

7. ‘Mādayān ī Wīrāzagān: a newly discovered Middle Persian text: transliteration, transcription, and translation’

BSOAS

Ruben Nikoghosyan

 

 

 

8. “All the world at the palm of the hand”: imagining history through the life of an early Afghan saint

BSOAS

T Ahmed

 

 

 

 

9. Philipp Bruckmayr

Islamic Reform as a Family Affair: The Tariq Shah Wali Ullah in Modern Malaysia

Monday Majlis Online on the 18^th of March, 17:00-18:30 (UK time)

Centre for the Study of Islam, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, Exeter.

Register please on this link:

https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUuce6gpzktHd1X7Yh_4lcbROZVV4U0x7ug

 

 

 

10. UCL Press is delighted to announce the publication of a new open access book that may be of interest to list subscribers: Arabic Dialogues: Phrasebooks and the learning of colloquial Arabic, 1798-1945, by Rachel Mairs.

Download it free: https://bit.ly/3T07Fik

 

SEMINAR

TO COMMEMORATE THE MARTYRDOM OF

IMAM ALI (a.s.)

SUNDAY 31st MARCH 2024 – 2:30 PM

VENUE – RUDOLF STEINER HOUSE

35 PARK ROAD, LONDON NW1 6XT

Opposite Mumtaz Restaurant

Tube station: Baker Street

Chair: Dr Reza Shah-Kazemi

Dr Reza Shah-Kazemi is an author in the fields of Islamic Studies and Comparative Religion; Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Ismaili Studies; and Managing Editor of Encyclopaedia Islamica. He studied International Relations and Politics at Sussex and Exeter Universities before obtaining his PhD in Comparative Religion from the University of Kent.

Gulamabbas Lakha

Imām ʿAlī (as) on self-sabotage and its remedies

Gulamabbas Lakha takes a multi-disciplinary approach to research and teaching at Oxford. His doctorate in Psychiatry investigates mental health applications of Islamic concepts and practices, including empirical work on depression in the UK Muslim population. He serves as a tutor in Psychology of Religion and leads seminars on Neuroscience of Religious Experience, including supervising medical students and postgraduates. In addition, he also lectures on Christian-Muslim relations, co-founded the Oxford Interfaith Forum, and led Bodleian Library public workshops on psychotherapy in Old Testament and Islamic psalms, having previously undertaken research on comparative neuroimaging of dhikr and secular mindfulness practices. His passion for academic research that has practical applications stems from two decades of business and community work. His first degree in Economics and Econometrics was followed by the Chartered Financial Analyst designation while working in the City, subsequently founding an investment firm at which he serves as CEO. He later completed four master’s degrees, spanning Psychology and Neuroscience, Theology, Islamic Studies, History and Arabic. Following religious training over a number of years, he was accredited as a Shaykh and has been lecturing on contemporary Islam at mosques across the UK and on Muslim TV channels over the last decade.

Farhana Mayer

Qur’anic Principles of Integral Ecology

Farhana Mayer is a published author in her field of Qur’anic Hermeneutics. Her latest publication An Introduction to Qur’anic Ecology and Resonances with Laudato Si’ compares Qur’anic principles applicable to integral ecology with the themes of Pope Francis’ ecological epistle Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home. Her earlier publications include: Spiritual Gems: The Mystical Qur’an Commentary Ascribed to Ja`far al-Sadiq and Anthology of Qur’anic Commentaries: On the Nature of the Divine with F. Hamza and S. Rizvi. Her recent research at Oxford University explores a Qur’anic perspective on the qualitative and ontological relationship between God and humankind. Farhana was formerly a lecturer in Sufism at SOAS and also at the Institute of Ismaili Studies (in Sufism and Qur’anic Exegesis), where she headed the Graduate Programme in Islamic Studies and Humanities. She is currently a Research Affiliate at the Laudato Si’ Research Institute, Campion Hall, University of Oxford.

AN OPEN INVITATION

PLEASE BE SEATED BY 2:30 PM

ORGANISER & SPONSOR: THE AHMED FAMILY – C/O MUHAMMADI TRUST (020 8452 1739)

1.Arabic Literary Culture in Southeast Asia in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

A.C.S. Peacock Brill, 2024

 

 

 

2. The Invisible East programme in Oxford is looking for a new Postdoctoral Researcher and for a Programme Co-ordinator to join the team!

We are looking for driven and organised individuals who can help us grow an exciting academic project with direct links to the wider public.
The job descriptions for the two positions can be seen at this link. The deadline to apply is 25 March 2024. We look forward to receiving your application!

 

 

 

 

3. In-person symposium on Literature and Religion in Modern Iran, sponsored by the Program for the Study of Religion and co-hosted by the UC San Diego Library and Middle East Studies program at UCSD, on March 12th.

Commencing at 2:30 p.m., the symposium kicks off with a compelling keynote address by Professor Nasrin Rahimieh from UC Irvine. Professor Rahimieh’s speech, Fictions of Self in Contemporary Iranian Women’s Writing, promises to offer intriguing insights into the literary landscape of Iran.

The symposium continues with a series of illuminating presentations by esteemed scholars. Dr. Domenico Ingenito (UCLA) will explore the intriguing relationship between mysticism and sexuality in the literary and critical works of Forugh Farrokhzad. Dr. Aria Fani (University of Washington) will present his recent publication, “Reading Across Borders: Afghans, Iranians, and Literary Nationalism,” which offers fresh perspectives on literary nationalism within the region. Additionally, Dr. Farshad Sonboldel (UC San Diego Library) will examine the profound impact of religious poetic forms on the process of literary modernization in Iran. Throughout the event, discussions will be expertly moderated by Dr. Babak Rahimi (UC San Diego).

Registration is not required.

Geisel Meeting Room

University of California San Diego, Geisel Library

9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla

Contact:

Jen Cormier

ucsdlibrary@ucsd.edu

 

 

 

4. King’s College London and the University of Kent are jointly offering up to fifteen fully-funded PhD studentships in medieval history, literatures and other disciplines (including up to three studentships for international students, and up to three Master’s Plus studentships available for low-income and/or ethnic minority applicants) through the new £2M Leverhulme doctoral training centre Knowledge Orders before Modernity.

Applicants can submit their own project through an open call, provided it falls broadly within the themes of the project (transmission, selection, production, reproduction and/or technologies of knowledge); or they can apply for particular projects proposed by potential supervisors at King’s and Kent.

For more information and on how to apply: https://www.komldsp.org.uk/about-us/ . The deadline this year will be 8 May 2024.

 

 

 

5. The Center for Research on the Iranian World (CeRMI, UMR8041 CNRS) is pleased to invite you to the XXV Iranian World Day, which will be held on Friday, March 22, 2024 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Auditorium of the INaLCO Languages and Civilizations Center, 65 rue des Grands-Moulins, 75013 Paris (Reception-café from 9:30 a.m.).

You will find information online on the CeRMI website: https://cermi.cnrs.fr/xxve-journee-monde-iranien/

 

 

 

6. Le CeRMI a le plaisir de vous convier à laprochaine séancedu séminaire “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du monde iranien”, qui se tiendra le jeudi 14 mars 2024, 17h-19h, en salle 3.15 à l’INaLCO (65 rue des Grands Moulins, Paris XIII, 3^e étage).

Nous sommes heureux d’accueillir M. Yury Karev, spécialiste de l’histoire politique et sociale de l’Asie Centrale à l’époque pré-mongole et de la culture matérielle, Chargé de recherches au CNRS (UMR 8546 AOROC – CNRS PSL), pour une conférence intitulée: “Les Qarakhanides au Māwarā’annahr: traits identitaires de la dynastie centre-asiatique à travers leur art et les textes de l’époque (fin X^e – début XIII^e s.)“.

 

 

 

7. UCLA – Legacies of Ancient Persia: New Episode Available

https://pourdavoud.ucla.edu/legacies-of-ancient-persia/

https://linktr.ee/legaciesofancientpersia

 

 

 

8. IIS: Applications for the Farhad Daftary Doctoral Scholarship Programme are now open

Closing date: 31 March, 2024

https://www.iis.ac.uk/news/2024/february/iis-doctoral-scholarship-programme-2024/

 

 

 

9. IIS: The Central Asian Studies Unit is pleased to invite you to register in-person to attend “Historical and Contemporary Migrations of Central Asian Muslims: History, Culture and Identity”, which will take place 3-4 April 2024 at Aga Khan Centre (London).

The conference will bring together scholars from various disciplines to discuss and exchange ideas on a wide range of topics related to the historical and contemporary regional and transnational migrations of Central Asian Muslims. There are limited spots available to attend in-person, so register soon.

https://www.iis.ac.uk/events/migrations-of-central-asian-muslims/

 

 

 

10. The Oxford Handbook of Modern Egyptian History

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-handbook-of-modern-egyptian-history-9780190072742?cc=us&lang=en&#

 

 

 

11. Interreligious Interactions in South Asia: Second Colloquium, April 3–12, 2024

We are delighted to announce our second colloquium on “Interreligious Interactions in South Asia,” which will take place over Zoom from April 3 to April 12, 2024. The speakers for our colloquium are as follows:

Afsar Mohammad | Vernacular Sufi Texts and Hindu-Muslim Contexts

April 3, 2024 | 16:00–17:30 BST / 11:00–12:30 EDT / 20:30–22:00 IST

Purnima Dhavan | Resisting Religious Labels in Early Modern Punjab: Why Place Matters

April 4, 2024 | 18:00–19:30 BST / 13:00–14:00 EDT / 22:30–00:00 IST

Abdul Manan Bhat | Postures of Tradition: Corporeality and Islamic Ethics in Modern Urdu & Persian Poetry

April 5, 2024 |  16:00–17:30 BST / 11:00–12:30 EDT / 20:30–22:00 IST

Kashshaf Ghani | Sufism and Religious Interactions from South Asia

April 8, 2024 | 15:00–16:30 BST / 10:00–11:30 EDT / 19:30–21:00 IST

Tilak Parekh | Religious Leadership in Interfaith Interactions

April 9, 2024 | 16:00–17:30 BST / 11:00–12:30 EDT / 20:30–22:00 IST

Sumaira Nawaz | Reform Unbound: Afghanistan’s Sirāj-ul Aḳhbār (1911-19) and its Global Publics

April 10, 2024 | 16:00–17:30 BST / 11:00–12:30 EDT / 20:30–22:00 IST

Supriya Gandhi | Persianate Hinduism in Colonial India: Revisiting Rammohun Roy’s Tuhfat al-muwahhidin

April 12, 2024 | 16:00–17:30 BST / 11:00–12:30 EDT / 20:30–22:00 IST

Website: www.interfaith.cam.ac.uk/south-asia-24

Registration Link: https://forms.office.com/e/Z4kN3ahf1i

We envision our colloquium to be brainstorming sessions for examining how interreligious interactions are analysed and theorised in diverse disciplines today, and in what ways do historical sources and ethnographic data from South Asia elaborate such interactions. Some of our presenters have pre-circulated reading materials that would be helpful in understanding their arguments. If you would like to consult these reading materials, please email: trinbarua@gmail.com.

 

 

 

12. Call for Papers: National, Transnational, and Antinational Circuits in Literature

Our special issue aims to investigate the multifaceted developments of approaches to and accounts of the national concept as well as its inter-, trans-, and antinational inverses as they are manifested in literary texts across diverse geographies and cultures from the 19^th century to the present. We invite contributors who engage with questions of the national, the international, transnational, and antinational, exploring their intricacies, challenges, and transformative potential within the broad field of literary studies.

We are interested in canonical works of internationalism, connected to Soviet ideology as well as to the non-aligned movement. But we are most interested in those works that explicitly speak to global capitalist exploitation on the conjuncture of other forms of violence, such as colonialism, racism, sexism, xenophobia, white supremacy, environmental exploitation, queer- and transphobia, and ableism. Importantly, we encourage authors to focus on those aspects, that are often ignored within analysis of internationalisms for example by Indigenous movements and individuals, or people with disabilities.

Papers may focus on, but are not limited to, the following themes:

1. Literary representations of transnational, international, and antinational solidarity movements, and activism.
2. Comparative analysis of literary texts exploring and theorizing different forms and concepts of nationalisms, nationhood, and belonging.
3. Critical approaches of national narratives in literature, as well as ethical considerations and dilemmas.
4. International solidarity in postcolonial and decolonial literature.
5. Intersectional perspectives on antinational discourses.
6. Transnational and/or antinational feminist alliances and solidarities in literature.
7. The role of literature in fostering empathy and cross-cultural understanding.
8. Literary responses to global capitalist exploitation on the conjuncture of other forms of violence, such as colonialism, racism, sexism, xenophobia, anti-migrantism, white supremacy, environmental exploitation, queer- and transphobia, and ableism.
9. Literary engagements with global justice and human and non-human rights issues.
10. International solidarities that are often ignored within analysis of internationalisms for example by Indigenous movements and individuals, or people with disabilities.

Submission Instructions:

Interested authors should submit a 250-word abstract and a short bio (250 words) by e-mail to the guest editors of this special issue of Comparative Literature (contact below). We aim for a special issue of 5-7 original articles, preceded by an introduction by the editors. Selected authors are expected to submit an original article of 6,000-8,000 words (likely early 2025). The deadline for abstract submissions is April 20th, 2024. Decisions will be communicated shortly thereafter. Accepted papers will still go through the regular peer-review process of the journal, therefore a selection doesn’t necessarily guarantee the publication of your article.

Guest editors:

Dr. Viktoria Pötzl at poetzlvi@grinnell.edu

Dr. Katharina Wiedlack katharina.wiedlack@univie.ac.at

 

 

 

13. Publication – Corinne Mühlemann, Complex Weaves: Technique, Text, and Cultural History of Striped Silks. Affalterbach: Didymos-Verlag, 2023.

https://www.didymos-verlag.de/produkt/complex-weaves-technique-text-and-cultural-history-of-striped-silks/

Silk fabrics in the form of wearables and soft furnishings were omnipresent in medieval Islamic society, yet their presence has not always been acknowledged within the field of art history. Complex Weaves considers the interwoven historiography of textile studies and Islamic art history through focusing on lampas fabrics produced in the Mongol (Ilkhanate, Chagatai Khanate) and Mamluk territories during the 13th and 14th centuries. Attending to these complex striped silks offers new perspectives on the production, consumption, and intended use of medieval textiles. By analyzing the different weaving techniques, the Arabic inscriptions in the patterns of the striped silks as well as their representation in pictorial and written sources, Complex Weaves critically examines the technological knowledge and divisions of labour required to produce lampas fabrics. The iconography, materiality, and inscriptions of striped silks are placed in conversation with 13th century metal vessels and contextualized through the varied uses of wearable silks. From robes of honour (khilʿa, tashrīf) for the Sāqī (cup-bearer) to the textile propaganda of the Abū Saʿīd silk, the incorporation of specific silks was instrumental in constructing talismanic power and political messages. Silks affected both those who wore them, and those who observed them, offering researchers insight into Islamic art history.

Corinne Mühlemann is the Assistant Professor for the History of Textile Arts (Abegg-Stiftung professorship) at the University of Bern, Switzerland. She has been a Marie-Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow at the Centre for Textile Research at the University of Copenhagen. Her research contributes to the fields of textile studies and Islamic art history.

URL

https://www.didymos-verlag.de/produkt/complex-weaves-technique-text-and-cultura…

 

 

 

14. ITS Ramadan Discount 2024

In celebration of the holy month of Ramadan and the Eid, the Islamic Texts Society is offering a 15% discount on all titles.

Books from the ITS are an aid to deepening one’s worship in this holy month, and also make an ideal Ramadan and Eid gift for family, friends and loved ones.

In order to take advantage of this offer, please visit our website https://its.org.uk and enter the coupon code RAMADAN24 on the purchase page. This offer is valid from 9 March to 14 April 2024.